The Circus of Bludhaven
by Zorgithon Phantom CXIV
Summary: The team's day off does not go as planned, when the vigilante from Bludhaven stumbles into the Mountain, laughing, screaming, and bleeding buckets, things get deadly. Batman arrives just in time to stop too much blood from being spilled. Nightwing is the hero of Bludhaven, he never met the team, was never adopted by the Bat and can never DIE. immortal!/Richard talon!/dick


It was an off day at Mount Justice and judging by the teams' activities, they were not planning anything large. So, when the Zeta-tube announced a name they had only heard on television, the teens instantly knew something was happening. _**Recognized- Nightwing B-0-9 Warning- unknown chemicals detected.**_

Racing towards the activating transport platforms, the team witnessed something they never expected to see and frankly, never wanted to. The fearless and seemingly indestructible hero of Blüdhaven stumbled out of the tube, shaking to the core with laughs and screams alike, calling out for Batman while clutching his stomach. Kid Flash raced forward as Nightwing collapsed to his knees and caught him before he could injure himself further.

Aqualad ordered Artemis to contact Batman before running over to the hero with his teammates. Nightwing held a hand over his bleeding abdomen even as he was lowered onto his back and occasionally let out a laugh.

"Uhm, Nightwing, sir? May I ask what happened?" Questioned Aqualad hesitantly, not sure how to address the older hero, seeing as they had never met before.

"… Joker… Scarecrow (gasp) … Two-Face (wheeze) … Harley Quinn (cough) team-up, Blüdhaven… hostages…" a fit of laughter followed the broken sentence, along with a whimper.

Kaldur was at a loss. He had no idea how to deal with this situation and was having a hard time keeping his cool. Therefore when Nightwing began thrashing violently, he grabbed hold of a limb and the others followed his lead in restraining the vigilante; hoping he was doing the right thing. Relief flooded him as the tube announced the arrival of the Dark Knight and followed his orders instantly.

"Hold him still. Keep his head in place and keep pressure on the wound."

They did as he said and Conner put pressure on the oozing injury, eliciting a round of laughs that unsettled the teens. Batman knelt next to the bleeding hero and checked him over before pulling a couple syringes from his belt. Despite the amount of stress and pain he was going through, when Nightwing noticed the pointy objects, he flipped out and struggled twice as hard. Realizing he didn't have much time, Batman quickly uncapped one of the syringes and jabbed it into Nightwing's neck.

The laughing slowly receded, but the whimpers and thrashing continued. Another needle was inserted where the previous had, one was injected between the ribs and into the heart, while the last was stabbed directly into the bleeding wound. Nightwing's struggling slowed down, the whimpering stopped, and his eyes began to droop. In a rare act, Batman placed a gloved hand on the teens head, said three words and he went limp.

"You're safe, sleep." The Team hesitated before releasing the downed hero, only to return to their positions when Batman pulled out a pair of tweezers and dug into Nightwing's wound.

"Batman, what are you doing? Shouldn't this be done in the medical wing?" Despite the fact that Wally just questioned the Bat, everyone had to agree. Without looking up from where he was digging around in the teens' abdomen, he responded.

"I am removing a bullet from the pancreas of a wounded hero. And yes, it should but we really don't have the time to get him there." The speedster paled dramatically and continued with the next question.

"Um, and why do we not have the time?" Batman growled, there was a grinding sound and his hand jerked free; revealing an inch long piece of metal dripping in blood. A bullet. He set the tweezers and bullet to the side and pulled Nightwing's uniform away from the no-longer bleeding GSW, motioning for everyone to take a step back.

They were confused but complied, moving away from the two dark vigilantes to watch in anticipation.

"Artemis, have this ready and throw it at his feet when I say." Batman spoke to the archer and handed her a small, blue pellet without taking his eyes off Nightwing. The group stood for a few minutes in silence and waited for something to happen. Batman had stood up by then and was now in a battle stance. With a gasp, Nightwing sat bolt upright before flipping to his hands and the balls of his feet with a growl. The two leapt at each other and instantly started fighting.

It was more of Nightwing attacking and Batman defending himself, than a fight. With a sudden change, Batman punched Nightwing in the head with enough force to stun the man and caught his flailing arms, pulling them behind his back. He now stood behind him, holding his limbs to his back and shouted for Artemis to throw the pellet at Nightwing.

She did so and a dark blue mist rose from his feet, ice crystals beginning to form on him. The crystals spread with the fumes and Nightwing had no choice but to inhale it after getting whacked on the back. His legs began quivering, his breathing slowed and his head kept jerking up.

He fell to his knees and Batman continued to restrain him until he slumped forward limply. The man lowered the unconscious hero to the ground and slowly released his arms. Aqualad moved next to Batman and helped him carefully roll Nightwing onto his back, checking him for additional injuries.

"Batman, what just happened?" Artemis questioned as the man motioned Superboy forward. "Nothing that is mine to tell. Conner, I need you to carry Nightwing to the medical bay and put him on the bed with the black titanium frame." The demi-Kryptonian nodded and did as he was told, sliding his arms under Nightwing's knees and shoulders.

When he stood, he had expected Nightwing to be heavy and not as light as a pillow. His head rested against Conner's shoulder and his left arm dangled limply over Superboy's hand. As Conner carried Nightwing, Batman had the others help him clean up the blood and remnants of the pellet.

After gently setting the hero down, Conner was about to go back, when a hand gripped his wrist weakly. "Pl'se dn't go…" The sentence was slurred and mumbled but Conner heard it perfectly fine. Flipping his arm around, Superboy now held Nightwing's hand reassuringly and he heard the teen's breathing even out in unconsciousness.


End file.
